Bangkok - Thailand has targeted June as a tentative date to host regional summits that were derailed earlier this month by protests in Pattaya, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday.

"We expect the summits to be held in June, possibly in Phuket," Abhisit said after a cabinet meeting.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said consultations were still underway with the other nine members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) as well as Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Nations to reschedule the three postponed summits.

"It could be at the end of May, or in June," Tharit said. "There are several alternatives."

Thailand was to host three summits including the ASEAN+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan, South Korea), ASEAN+6 (ASEAN plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea) and ASEAN+UN, at the beach resort town of Pattaya on April 11-12.

The seaside summits had to be cancelled, however, when anti-government protestors raided the meetings' venue in Pattaya, 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok, forcing Abhisit to send the visiting heads of state home before they could talk business.

Thailand, which has been troubled by street protestors since May 2008, was forced to postpone hosting the ASEAN summits twice last year.

From February 27 to March 1 the country succeeded in hosting a summit of the 10 ASEAN members, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, in Cha-am, another beach resort.

The ASEAN+3 and ASEAN+6 summits were not held then because China could not attend. (dpa)